The spike
in online streaming video users for Netflix appears to have
originated from customers in Canada. The company's traditional
DVD-by-mail service was
not offered as an option to consumers there, they were only
provided with the choice of streaming video.

In
the week following the launch of service to Canadians, 10 percent of
Netflix online usage came from that country and video streaming usage
numbers will continue to increase in Canada and are expected to rise
exponentially in North America overall, according to Sandvine.

In
response to the study, one online report
suggests that another reason that Netflix may be gaining
momentum could stem from the fact that while online users spend only
moments at a time on YouTube, they tend to spend hours
at a time on Netflix.

"That video is growing rapidly and going
to be huge is true," said Akamai's Tom Leighton. "But
there's tons of capacity out at the edges of the network....plenty of
capacity in the last mile to your house."

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